Which editing software should i go for?

N

naveen.nag

Messages
214
Name
Naveen
Edit My Images
No
Hi

I am completely a novice when it come to the editing. Till now i have just been shooting with my canon 550d and no post processing at all. Want to start getting into PP.

Could pls advise which software should i go for? Photoshop or lightroom? If so, which version if it. And the reason for your recommendations as well pls. Keep in mind that i have never used any editing softwares so far.

Looking forward for inputs.

Naveen
 
You will be overwhelmed with either of them.
You could play around with the free ones, Irfanview is surprisingly competent but quite basic, while www.gimp.org has many similarities to photoshop e.g you can work with layers and selected areas.
Canon DPP you should have or can download is not bad at all and will process your RAW files.
 
I'd certainly give Lightroom a go. It's wonderfully thought out for photographers, working in a very logical and fairly intuitive way.

It's a different beast to Photoshop, and whilst that programme is of course quite excellent, I think it's not the place to start.
 
naveen.nag said:
Want to start getting into PP.
Click to expand...

Then my recommendation would be Photoshop CS5 - I've tried Lightroom (albeit not for long) and whilst it seems to be excellent at cataloging pics it didn't appear to me to be very comprehensive or intuitive for PP.
There are numerous tutorials/youtube videos about CS5 and with the advent of 'content aware' and HDR built-in I just think it is far more useful - it is definitely the more comprehensive for processing.
 
gramps said:
Then my recommendation would be Photoshop CS5 - I've tried Lightroom (albeit not for long) and whilst it seems to be excellent at cataloging pics it didn't appear to me to be very comprehensive or intuitive for PP.
Click to expand...

I don't think you spent long enough with it...
 
Then feel free to answer the O/P
 
You can download a free 30 day trial of Lightroom 4 so certainly give that a go. I tried Gimp which is a free programme, but I found it to be quite complex, it does the job quite well once you've worked your way around it though.
My main PP is done with Photoshop Elements, but I'm trying out Lightroom at the moment and may switch over to that as so far it seems pretty good.
 
naveen.nag said:
Hi

I am completely a novice when it come to the editing. Till now i have just been shooting with my canon 550d and no post processing at all. Want to start getting into PP.

Could pls advise which software should i go for? Photoshop or lightroom? If so, which version if it. And the reason for your recommendations as well pls. Keep in mind that i have never used any editing softwares so far.

Looking forward for inputs.

Naveen
Click to expand...

Hi

Depends on whether you want to pay for the software or not...

There are various free ones available on line, don't forget the software from Canon that is bundled with your camera

Paid for, there is Photoshop Elements, Photoshop CS and Lightroom to name a few...
 
For newbies I can only recommend elements 9 or 10, can't be beaten in my view !!!
 
Try the free trials of both Lightroom and PhotoShop. Lots of people seem to adamantly say that one or the other is better, but I really think it depends in how your brain works. Lots say Lightroom is easier but personally I find PhotoShop much more intuitive. Try the trials and you will see which suits you. Or try one if the free ones. I don't know the personally but they certainly seem to suit some.
 
MadWoman said:
Try the free trials of both Lightroom and PhotoShop. Lots of people seem to adamantly say that one or the other is better, but I really think it depends in how your brain works. Lots say Lightroom is easier but personally I find PhotoShop much more intuitive. Try the trials and you will see which suits you. Or try one if the free ones. I don't know the personally but they certainly seem to suit some.
Click to expand...


this
 
you also download for FREE Photoshop CS5 which cant be beaten in my book, I use it all the time (y) ( obviously I had to buy it when the 30 day free trial expired) :LOL:


Les (y)

although for a complete newbie to PP, I would suggest you download the free version of GIMP
 
Photoshop elements and lightroom 4, Lots of video's for photoshop around almost always on all magazines that come with a disk, For me gives lots of options for touching up photos. Using it together with lightroom 4 which is excellent you can do almost everything.
 
It sort of depends on what editing you are looking at getting into doesn't it?

Having quickly used both it would seem Photoshop can do much more manipulation (mulit layers, putting in differente skies, merging images etc,.) than Lightroom but both can cover processing (levels, exposure, highlights/shadows etc, etc,) to a similar level.

I may be wrong though as I did only quickly use them and discovered it is not an area I want to be spending time in as long as I can do basic processing it is enough for me and iPhoto works well for that.
 
i agree with ernesto, it depends on the extent of editing you want to do, i used PS Elements 10 for a few months playing around with color correction and layering, i found about Lightroom and have been using it ever since. i find it easier to use than PSE since the most i do to my images is just color correction. if you're the type who prefers to turn pictures into creative art with more creative manipulation involved then PS would be better.
 
Remember if you have a child at school you can purchase the student edition of elements or Lightroom from the software for students website. This is all legit and saves some money. Make sure you check the specs for the software as if you are running xp the latest Lightroom won't work.
 
I'm lazy and don't organise my images so never got on with lightroom. I use cs5 but its a lot of money if you can't get the student edition. So like the others have said Elements. Before hand try pixlr its free web based program.
 
naveen.nag said:
Hi

I am completely a novice when it come to the editing. Till now i have just been shooting with my canon 550d and no post processing at all. Want to start getting into PP.

Could pls advise which software should i go for? Photoshop or lightroom? If so, which version if it. And the reason for your recommendations as well pls. Keep in mind that i have never used any editing softwares so far.

Looking forward for inputs.

Naveen
Click to expand...

Don't use either!.Go now and download FastStone FREE and you will find it is far easier to use than Adobe cr**.:shake:The big names are not what they seem just go and try FastStone it will not cost you a penny.Google picasa,or Photoscape are also free.There is no need to go near Adobe stuff at all,far to big and cumbersome.FastStone:clap::cool:
 
Use the free one that came with your camera (or download it from the manufacturer's website) until you know which features are important to you and which features you want which may be missing from it.

Then you can make a more informed decision about which paid-for software, if any, best suits your needs.

Just because it costs money doesn't automatically make it better for you than the free stuff.
 
Lightroom gets my vote, its good for "workflow" and to be honest most of the time the average amateur doesn't need Photoshop... unless you really do need to rescue photos
 
There is also Zoner Photo Studio Pro 14 at $69 USD. It is sort of a lightroom and photoshop combined. Has a good chunk of the tools of both. I use it on my laptop since my Photoshop license is for one machine only and the laptop isn't powerful enough in any case for photoshop. It has a 30 day trial.
 
I use Serif Photoplus X5 and so far have yet to find something it cannot do that Photoshop can ... I got photoshop elements with my comp and use the Raw converter in that since it has more adjustments but everything else is done in Serif ... and they do a nice offer on it
 
I'm 10 days into my free 30 day trial of lightroom,i'm really pleased with it so far. It's the first time i've really used any of this type of software, i'll be buying it at the end of the free trial.

I'll probably try a trial of elements 10 also.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top